Trick or Treat…or BRAINS!

The original “Mad Pic Lab: Zombie” photo I did that inspired the zombie costumes for this year.

Rob and I love “The Walking Dead” and, though the girls cannot under any circumstance watch it, they have also become similarly obsessed with the concept of all things zombies with the help of the video game “Plants Vs. Zombies”. This year’s idea for Halloween costumes was an easy choice: Zombies!

There were several reasons I wanted to try zombie costumes:

Ease: All the parts of the costume (make-up, clothes) were already in our possession, they just needed to be adjusted accordingly to look like zombie apocalypse attire. Each article of clothing already had miscellaneous stains on it or no longer fit, which made us feel a little less guilty when we had to rip and bloody the clothes up.

Cost: I didn’t spend one cent on the costumes. The clothes and make-up were already owned by us; we needed to purchase nothing.

Make-up: I wanted to try my hand at zombie make-up again. I had done a photo for a Mad Pic Lab post (picture on the right) using Rob as the zombiefied hand-model and I really liked the results. I was hoping I’d get to replicate some of the awesomeness/gruesomeness I had captured with that photo.

Something for the whole family: A zombie costume was something we could all easily be and have it be a family-themed costume.

The theme I did for this week’s post was sort of along the lines of “What We Were Doing When We Turned”.

As part of our costumes, each of us had a bite wound. Lipstick and eyeliner make for wonderful wounds. The lipstick stays sort of wet looking and doesn’t dry out so you too can get the fresh-wound-look that everyone is raving about. I also used corn starch, a shimmery powder, and eye makeup to create the gray-looking skin tone and sunken eyes.
Zoe’s bite was on her neck, obviously.Not too happy about the whole “becoming a zombie” thing.Briar’s wound is on the cheek/mouth area.I really had so much fun with her make-up. She really took the role of zombie very seriously.Jude’s bite was on her cheek.I have to admit, despite being a zombie, the girl still has style and is rockin’ the hair.Scout opted for a zombie scratch along her cheek.Ripping up the outfits and preparing them for the Apocalypse was both satisfying and difficult. On one hand, I was reusing broken/stained/ill-fitting clothes and putting them to good use, but tearing up clothes felt weird.I had a wound on my forehead, but also a big gash on my stomach. It was pretty cool looking. Photo taken by Rob Grafrath.I don’t like what I see…or do I? Photo taken by Rob Grafrath.Rob turned while working from home.We thought a zombie with glasses was kinda funny.

Hey, if you’re ever in the need of a quick and cheap costume, zombies are a nice option. You get bonus points for shambling down the street and getting your kids to say “Trick or Treat or BRAINS!” like we did.